A red flag flew over town hall to celebrate the men and women who take to sea in the country’s non military navy.

Council bosses raised the Red Ensign flag above Macclesfield town hall in Market Place in honour of Merchant Navy Day.

The day celebrates the Merchant Navy which is the name for the people who work in the UK’s commercial shipping industry, as opposed to the military navy, with officers employed on vessels including ferries and cruise ships, cargo container ships and support for the offshore oil and gas industry.

Merchant seafarers are responsible for 95pc of the UK’s imports, including half the food we eat.

The Red Ensign is the UK Merchant Navy’s official flag.

David Booth, 72, a master mariner of Bond Street, Macclesfield, said: “I must admit after 50 years in merchant shipping, piloting about 6,000 ships in Africa and the Middle East and finishing as a marine superintendent at a major Libyan oil and gas exporting terminal I had no idea there was a Merchant Navy Day.

“I was surprised to see the flag but I’m delighted to see there is a special day to celebrate the Merchant Navy.”